stupid cupid (stop picking on me)
by Lunar Wings
Summary: [Solangelo] Nico is not a fan of Valentine's Day, and it was probably time to tell his boyfriend why. After all, Love could be incredibly cruel.


Nico hated Valentine's Day.

It wasn't that he was single (far from it) or that the whole camp was saturated in public displays of affection. It wasn't that the dining pavilion was decorated in bright hues of red and pink, or that the general atmosphere was alight with a definite "love is in the air" feeling. It wasn't the pranks that the Hermes cabin had set up - though seeing Sherman Yang and Miranda Gardiner covered in glittery pink silly string had been quite the sight - and it wasn't the sweet smell wafting from the strawberry fields.

No, Nico hated Valentine's Day for one specific reason: the image of his _least_ favorite god, in the commercialized diapered baby form, had been plastered around the campgrounds for all to see.

That alone was the very reason why he had barricaded himself in his cabin not even two minutes after leaving for breakfast. Nope, there was no way in Hades he was going to subject himself to a full day of Cupid's stupid cherub face. Nevermind that the actual Cupid looked nothing like that; the little chubby-cheeked gremlin still filled him with so much hate and disgust that he forced himself to stay _far_ away from anything that might be depicting the god.

So, there Nico was, standing in his bathroom and pouting at the static-filled image of a certain daughter of Aphrodite in front of him.

"You know, there's still plenty of time to try and turn the day around," Piper's voice sounded from the Iris-message. "You have Will, right? It's your first Valentine's together, don't you have anything planned?"

Nico sighed and buried his face in his hands. "I don't know. He said he had some ideas, but as far as I know, nothing's set in stone? Either way, I just- I _can't_ go out there, not with that _stupid.._." He ground loudly in lieu of finishing his sentence, tensely gripping at his hair.

Piper gazed at him sympathetically as she strung some pink beads onto her braid. "I really do feel for you, Nico. Eros is kind of a huge jerk and I hate that I'm even related to him. I can't even imagine the trauma he must've put you through." She paused, finishing her braid off with a couple of white feathers. "You know you have people there to support you, right? At least let Will in, he _is_ your boyfriend."

He twitched at her use of that word. _Boyfriend._ Nico still didn't know what to make of it. It felt weird to say, even in his mind, despite that he and Will had been dating for about a month and a half. There was just something about the word that seemed almost _wrong_ to him - it felt more like a label than anything else. Labels were for cans and packages, not people.

Besides, Will was more than just a _boyfriend_. He was Nico's best friend, his confidant, his doctor, his reason to get up in the mornings. And as far as Nico was concerned, a simple word like _boyfriend_ didn't really do justice to what their relationship meant to him, let alone his feelings for the son of Apollo.

"Just explain it to him," Piper continued. "He's such a good guy and he adores you, so I'm sure he'll understand. He does know what Eros did to you, right?"

Nico glanced away from the message, silently conveying his answer to her.

"You haven't _told him_ yet? Nico!"

"He knows bits and pieces," he finally replied, throwing his hands up in frustration. "It's hard to talk about, okay? Being outed by the god of love himself isn't really something I like to think about, McLean."

Piper heaved an exasperated sigh before fixing her eyes on him again. "Nico, I know it's hard for you to open up, I mean, Jason still says that getting you to talk is like pulling teeth. But I really think you should at least tell Will, especially since it's Valentine's Day. I'm sure he wants to spend the day with you. Plus you skipped breakfast, and knowing him, he's probably worried."

Nico ran a hand through his hair in resignation. Piper was absolutely right; Will deserved to know why he disliked this holiday so much, why he hadn't even bothered to leave his cabin. Of course, it wouldn't be easy to tell him, but it was unfair to keep him in the dark, especially on a day when their relationship should be celebrated.

"I'll try," he quietly responded, looking back up at the message. "He… it's terrible of me to hide it from him, I know."

Piper gave him a small smile. "I promise you he'll understand. If he doesn't, I will literally fly out to New York and smack him upside the head on your behalf."

That drew a snort from Nico, and he offered her a smirk of his own in return. "I'm perfectly capable of beating him up myself, and he knows it, but thanks for the offer anyway."

Piper's smile turned into a wide grin. "You'll be okay, Nico." Something out of view from the message seemed to catch her eye, and she got up out of the chair she'd been sitting in. "Hey, I gotta go. Me and Jason have school."

Nico replied with a nod. "Tell him I said hey. And… thanks."

"No problem! I'll talk to you later!" With that, the Iris-message dissipated, and Nico turned off his shower.

Heaving another sigh, he headed back out to the main area of his cabin, pondering what he would even say to Will. He could almost hear Cupid laughing at him from the deepest reaches of his mind, taunting him and goading him over and over. _Tell him, Nico di Angelo. Tell him you are a coward, afraid of yourself and your feelings._

How could he even begin to put what he'd felt into words?

The sudden knock on his door cut off that train of thought before it could even leave the station.

Nico glared at said door, as if it were the source of his problem. For a moment, he considered not even answering it, but the voice on the other side convinced him otherwise.

"Nico? C'mon, open up, it's me."

Inwardly groaning to himself, he slowly unlocked the door and opened it just enough to peer outside.

Sure enough, there he was - Will Solace, in his dumb, sunshiney, I-woke-up-at-7AM-and-I'm-still-feeling-great glory; his hair was backlit by the sun, making it look like a golden halo, and the blue in his eyes was brought out by the bright pink scrub shirt he was wearing.

Said eyes were filled with concern as they met Nico's. "I missed you at breakfast. Are you feeling okay?"

Nico hesitated briefly. Physically, he felt fine, if not a little nauseous from not eating, but emotionally, not so much. He took a deep breath and stepped aside, opening the door enough to let his significant other - special guy - _boyfriend_ enter. "Yeah. I'm fine."

After closing the door and locking it, he turned around and came face-to-face with a small plate of assorted fruit. "They have a chocolate fountain today," Will explained, "which should be like, double incentive for you to eat something."

Nico raised an eyebrow. " _Double_ incentive? What's the _first_ one?"

Will grinned and puffed himself up with a waggle of his eyebrows. "Your awesome boyfriend, bringing you breakfast, on the holiday where I'm morally obligated to spoil you absolutely rotten."

Nico blankly stared at him before rolling his eyes and taking the plate, his face heating up at that- that _word_. "You're such a dork."

Moving to sit down on the bed, he picked up a chocolate-covered strawberry and put it to his lips. Will plopped himself down next to him, dangling his feet off the edge of the bed. "So, what's got you holed up in here instead of spending Valentine's Day with me, hmm?"

Chewing thoughtfully on the sweet fruit, Nico focused on a point directly in front of him. "This holiday… is not my favorite."

From the corner of his eye, he could see Will's expression fall. "Wanna talk about it?"

Nico finished off the strawberry before popping another piece of fruit into his mouth, and then another. As he took a few minutes to eat and gather his thoughts, Will patiently sat at his side, tracing his finger along the blankets beneath them.

Eventually, Nico set the empty plate aside, then scooted up to lean against the wall next to his bed. "Did… did I ever tell you about how I was outed?" he hesitantly began.

Will pushed himself back to rest next to Nico and gently took his hand. "A little. It was in Croatia and Jason was there?"

Nico nodded and laced their fingers together. "Yeah. We'd gone to Diocletian's palace to retrieve his scepter, and…" He trailed off, swallowing the sudden lump in his throat.

He felt Will lightly squeeze his hand and glanced over at him - the blond's expression was gentle, and Nico felt himself relax the slightest bit. "It's okay. Take as much time as you need," Will quietly urged.

Inwardly, Nico wondered what he ever did to deserve someone so kind and patient.

Exhaling slowly, he steeled himself enough to continue. "When we got there, we were greeted by the god Favonius, who took us to his master, who owned the scepter - Cupid. Or Eros, whatever.

"Cupid refused to give it to us at first. We tried to fight him, but he was invisible, and more ruthless than you'd think, considering he's the god of _love_. I mean, even _Thanatos_ is more pleasant to be around." He gave a short, humorless laugh, edging himself close enough to press his shoulder against Will's.

"He… said that the only way he'd let us have the scepter was if…" Nico swallowed again, gripping Will's hand tighter. "You know all about how I had a crush on Percy. And Cupid… he wouldn't give in until I admitted it out loud. In front of Jason."

Will let go of Nico's hand, carefully placing an arm around his waist. "Nico…"

"It was one of the hardest things I'd ever had to do. Since, you know, I came from the forties and I probably would've been burned at the stake. And I know that it's more accepted now, but when I think back to that time, and how much I hated myself for giving in, how much I hated _Cupid_ for forcing it out of me, and Jason for being there to witness it, and everything…"

Nico rested his head against Will's shoulder, closing his eyes. "It's one of my most painful memories. And stepping out of my cabin to see everything decorated with hearts and red and pink and those stupid little cherub things - which look nothing like him, by the way - it's hard, and it just reminds me of how terrible I felt on that day. How much I wanted to sink into the shadows and never return."

He fell silent after that. He could feel Will's thumb softly stroking the skin at his waist, could feel the warmth radiating off of the other boy. Over the time that they'd been together, he'd found that there were few things more comforting than quietly resting together, taking in each other's presence, sharing the heat between them. Nico still wasn't the biggest fan of physical contact, but it was… easier with Will.

Everything was always easier with Will.

Nico felt a soft kiss against his hair, and he lifted his head up to meet those blue eyes that he'd come to love so much.

"Thank you for telling me," Will said quietly, "I know it wasn't easy for you."

Nico sighed softly as those warm lips pressed against his forehead. "You deserved an explanation. I mean… we're supposed to be spending the day together, right? Isn't that the whole point of Valentine's Day? I wasn't being very fair to you."

To his surprise and confusion, Will simply chuckled in response. "Nico, it's okay, I know you had your reasons. I'd wanted us to go do some strawberry picking or something, but we don't have to do that if you don't want to. We could stay in here and watch movies, or go down to the beach, or the canoe lake where no one will bother us… whatever it takes to keep your mind off of that jerk Cupid."

Nico ducked his head down and smiled into Will's shoulder. "Sounds like a plan. I think… if you're there with me, then I won't be thinking about Cupid anyway."

He felt Will smirk against his hair. "Yeah? Something else occupying your mind?"

Biting his lip, Nico took a deep breath. "Just the fact that I have a..."

He wanted to say it. He wanted to use that word, the one that had sounded so strange and foreign to him the first time that Will had said it, one of the many words he could use to describe his personal ray of sunshine...

He looked up to meet Will's eyes, a soft smile on his face. "An awesome boyfriend."

Will stiffened for a moment before breaking into a wide grin, which engraved itself in Nico's mind as their lips came together, and that pins-and-needles feeling that Nico always got whenever they kissed filled his body and completely overwrote the anxiety he'd been feeling before, so much that he asked himself why it had even been there in the first place.

When they parted, Will pushed himself off of the bed and reached for both of Nico's hands, tugging him up as well. "C'mon, let's go and have some fun."

Nico's grin matched his boyfriend's as he was pulled to his feet.

Piper had been, of course, absolutely right. To have such a kind and gentle and understanding person at his side felt like a blessing from the gods: one that he definitely wouldn't have if he hadn't let go of his feelings for Percy on that fateful day in Split.

Perhaps, in time, Nico would come to thank Cupid for that. But for now, as the two of them stepped out into the sunlight, all that was on his mind was his best friend, his confidant, his doctor, his _boyfriend_ \- and that was enough to give him a new appreciation for the holiday that he'd initially shunned.

 _There's still plenty of time to try and turn the day around._


End file.
